Hot Dogs, The Taste Test

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

It was one of those spontaneous happenings … and that, as you probably have noticed by now, is one of the beauties of life with kids. Especially when it involves food, cooking or any type of taste test.

We recently fired up an end-of-the-summer campfire in our backyard. It was a time to enjoy the outdoors before the leaves are down and the cooler winds of autumn whistle in. It was then that we got to talking about how good hot dogs are when they are campfire-roasted. And then we ended up reminiscing about the year that we did the hot dog taste test.

It was kicked off by my mention of the time I toured a chocolate factory and was chosen (along with my brother, mom and dad) to participate in random taste testing—complete with the little cubicles and score cards. With a sip of water and a small cracker in-between the different bites of chocolate, it was something that certainly made that tour extra-special. And that’s how our at-home taste test idea was born: How about a hot dog taste test?

While what we do in the kitchen may not usually be thought of—or much less called—taste testing, that’s really what we’re all up to day-in and day-out. Testing out what we like, what our kids like, experimenting here, re-doing there … and then finding a mish-mash of what everyone in the family likes. It’s like a work-in-progress. Creative work, for sure … a work of art … and sometimes, just work.

Our hot dog taste test was fun. And it worked out well also because hot dogs are one of those foods that really seem to vary in flavor, texture and overall composition. And most folks have a very strong preference as to what type they will buy, won’t buy and—at times—won’t even eat. Yes, there are chicken dogs, fat-free dogs, vegetarian dogs and tofu dogs, but on this particular instance we decided to limit our taste test to regular ol' hot dogs—those of the meat variety.

Naturally I enlisted the help of my kids for the first step: shopping and choosing the brands we would use—and we ended up with 7. Then when we got home and were ready to do the actual testing, the kids designed cards on which each person would write their preferences, using a numeric system to rate high to low.

It was all progressing very well—but I have to tell you, cooking 7 different types of hot dogs—and keeping them secret and straight as to which kind was which when putting them on the plates was the biggest challenge! And because this was a blind taste test, it fell into my arena of responsibility to cook, cut and put the tooth-picked pieces onto plates so that no one would be the wiser as to which brand was which. And since it was only necessary to have 2 or 3 small slices of each type on the plates, it’s not like anyone had to eat 7 hotdogs to do this either. Thank goodness.

The results ended up solidly confirming that we all preferred one brand, with an overall resounding agreement on the runner-up also. The spattering of third to seventh place holders were varied … although surprisingly we all agreed on the last place contestant also.

In the end, we all enjoyed doing this so much that we have had several other taste tests since then. It’s definitely a kid-winning kitchen endeavor.

So, if you’ve never conducted a taste test with your kids before, here’s a note of encouragement: it’s definitely a good time. Not only will you learn more about everyone’s favorite tastes, it’s an activity that can help open up the doors of communication for kids and adults alike. With the cook’s personal preferences (and ego) aside, it’s easier to let true preferences be known. And gaining more knowledge about what our families like (and dislike) is always a winner when you’re cooking for a tableful of different tastes.

Has your family enjoyed any taste tests? What did you try?